AUSTIN, Texas — A competition for the backup quarterback role for the Texas Longhorns that officially started during spring practice now adds another dimension during preseason camp with the addition of senior Troy Trojans transfer Matthew Caldwell, an unexpected addition to the program during the spring transfer window.
Caldwell enters a battle waged during the spring between redshirt freshman Trey Owens and freshman KJ Lacey with the outcome of that competition leaving Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian
feeling uncomfortable enough to pursue a more experience option.
“The last thing I want to do is put a young player on the field if he’s not ready to play. That’s something that any position needs and quarterback is obviously the most important one,” Sarkisian said as preseason camp opened on Wednesday
If that sounds like an explicit indictment of the progress that Owens has made since arriving as an early enrollee in the 2024 recruiting class, the Cypress Cy-Fair product showed evidence of his continued struggles on Wednesday — it wasn’t a sharp performance during the portion of practice open to the media and Owens wore those struggles on his face during a break.
So when Sarkisian elucidated what he’s looking for in the battle to back up redshirt sophomore Arch Manning, it put into perspective the areas where Owens was lacking during the first practice of preseason camp.
“I think one, do they know what to do? And that kind of comes from, is the ball going where it’s supposed to go? Two, are they throwing it with some accuracy? Not every throw is going to be perfect, but is there some accuracy there? And then three, probably one of the bigger things I look for is, how do they respond to negative plays? How do they respond to a poor throw? How do they respond to a poor read or a bobbled snap or an interception? Because that’s as close as I can get them to real football. What’s going to happen in a game when something doesn’t go their way?” Sarkisian said.
Despite arriving during the summer and going through his first practice on the Forty Acres on Wednesday, Caldwell looked more comfortable, delivering the ball with accuracy, including on the move where he could showcase his athleticism, an area where Owens struggles with mechanical breakdowns.
To put it simply, Caldwell looked like a player entering his fifth season of college football.
“What I liked about him when he was on his visit was his level of maturity and just the way he carried himself to go along with, he’s got athleticism and he throws an accurate ball. But what I’ve learned from him this summer, and even today, is he’s really coachable. You can coach this guy hard, and he takes coaching,” Sarkisian said.
Caldwell’s maturity has translated into his ability to quickly build relationships with his new teammates.
“He’s got really good rapport with his teammates. He’s got good rapport with the other quarterbacks, with the other guys on the team. He carries himself confidently, but not arrogantly. So there’s a lot of things to like about him,” Sarkisian said.
The Alabama native has picked up the offense quickly, too.
“We’ve got a lot of time here to figure out what’s going to happen at that backup spot, but from where he was when he first got here to where he is today? I’ve been impressed with the progress,” Sarkisian said.
If Caldwell can maintain his consistency, he’s the favorite to win the backup job, leaving Owens to compete with Lacey for the third-string role.
It’s another battle that Owens might fall short in based on how Lacey looked in practice — after failing to put an out route on the boundary, Lacey bounced back quickly, delivering the ball to the right spots and spinning it well whether he was on the run or operating from the pocket, impressive qualities given Lacey’s lack of prototypical height.
“I think the one thing for KJ that’s really stuck out to all of us is just his innate ability to find completions. He’s accurate, and even in the instances early on in the spring where he really didn’t know exactly what’s going on — and that’s common — he would still find ways to move the ball down the field and get completions, so I think for him, as he continues to evolve and grow within the scheme and get a better feel for it, he’s got a chance to be really special because of his ability to just spin it and find completions and throw a catchable football,” Texas co-passing game coordinator Mike Bimonte said on Tuesday.
Lacey’s ability to make off-platform and off-schedule throws is what makes him such an intriguing long-term prospect and represents something of an existential threat to Owens’ time on the Forty Acres.
For the short term, Caldwell looks like the heavy favorite to back up Manning this year.
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